Obituary for Arlene C. Gilmore Center Barnstead – Arlene C. Gilmore, 84, of Center Barnstead, passed December 8, 2018 at Concord Regional Hospice House in Concord with family by her side. She was born May 15, 1934 at Mays Landing, NJ a daughter of the late John and Mary (Schwartz) Abbott. Mrs. Gilmore with her husband, co-owned and operated Smith & Gilmore Fishing Pier at Hampton Beach from 1978-2000.
Family was most important as well as enjoying crocheting, needlepoint and long drives in the car. She shared 63 years of marriage with her husband, C. Raymond Gilmore. In addition to her husband, family members include her son, John Edward Gilmore and his wife Nancy of York, ME, her daughter, Dyan Gilmore of Hampton, three grandchildren, Shawn Mercer and his wife Sarah, Meagan Rigney and her husband Christian, Jack Gilmore and his wife Noelle, 7 great grandchildren, Caleb, Molly, Brady, Wyatt, Piper, Willow, Isaac, and her sister, Madeline DeFrancesco of Lunenburg, MA.
Private services will be held at the convenience of the family. If desired, donations may be made to Concord Regional VNA & Hospice, 240 Pleasant Street, Concord, NH 03301 www. crvna.org/.
Arrangements were by the Remick & Gendron Funeral Home-Crematory, Hampton. Memorial written by granddaughter Meagan Mercer Rigney I don’t have a memory without my Grammie in my life. It seems that we were always with her, visiting her house daily, vacationing, spending holiday’s, etc.
She and my grandfather ran our families fishing business in Hampton Beach, NH my entire childhood, where I watched firsthand how hard two people can work. She rose daily before dawn and opened up the office and sold tickets. He ran the boats and daily operations, and they worked tirelessly till the last boat came in way past dark.
From Spring to Fall it was a never ending cycle of work and dedication. I grew up sitting at her feet in the office, playing “office” with old supplies. Sitting near the portable heater on cold April mornings, or sweltering in July flagging down cars to sell tickets to.
The “pier” as we called it, holds every single part of my childhood, and my Grammie was the Queen who kept it all together. You never saw a harder worker than her, or my grandfather. Their home on the beach, next to the pier, is my version of heaven.
I can still hear the slamming of the screen door, see the Oreo’s in Grampa’s snack drawer, smell the sea air coming in through the windows. Eventually I got to be the age when I could work for the family business selling tickets, bait, and fixing fishing rods. My grandmother paid me, and from the age of 14 she held back a percentage of my pay and saved it for me.
I didn’t get a choice, she told me that this is how it would be and I knew there was no discussion (Arlene was the BOSS, you see! ) I worked there from 14-18, and during that time she kept a box of cash from my paychecks. When I turned 18 this box of cash became enough money for me to pay my part of college tuition IN FULL that first year.
SHE made that possible, and taught me a valuable lesson. Save before you spend, and you will be grateful. She taught me to work hard, have fun, and that working with family, FOR family, was everything.
In the later years she and my Grampa retired to Florida, and that is where I see her smiling the most. Always wearing lipstick, always laughing, always showing me the pretty things she picked up at a garage sale or on the clearance rack at a store. She loved pretty clothes, pretty jewelry, and had the most beautiful snow white hair of anyone I’ve ever seen.
She loved a good party, visiting and holiday’s and a good occasion to have fun. Time wasn’t kind to her in the end. It robbed her of her memory and the things and people she loved, but she was surrounded till her last breath with everyone that loved her.
She was at peace and left in peace, and my greatest hope is that she is restored to the Arlene we all know and love. She was a spitfire, one of the most determined woman alive (she once typed and retyped by hand my Grampa’s PH. d dissertation a dozen times, one of my favorite stories.
) She was our Grammie and Mom and Wife. She is survived and loved and remembered by us all, and mourned. She and my Grampa who were married for 60+ years, showed me what true dedication and love is like, and my hope is to love as much as they did.
If there were stories + poems of real life, real love of regular people just doing what needs to be done, they would be on the top of the list for the greatest love. No one who dies with family members left behind who love and miss them truly die. We have our memories, our stories, and she lives on through those.
But we will miss her presence forever. We love you Grammie, I know you are at peace and wait for the day we can see you again. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Arlene C. Gilmore please visit our Sympathy Store.
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